| Publication | |
| Author(s) | Diener, E.; Seligman, M.E.P. |
| Title | Very Happy People. |
| Source | Psychological Science, 2002, Vol. 13, 81 - 84 |
| DOI | DOI::10.1111/1467-9280.00415 |
| Investigation | |
| Public | Undergraduate students, US, 199? |
| Undergraduate students of University of Illinois | |
| Year of data gathering not reported | |
| Survey name | Not available |
| Sample | Non-probability purposive sample |
| Respondents N = | 222 |
| Non Response | Not available |
| Assesment | Questionnaire: paper |
| Daily report of mood and activities during 51 days; peer ratings. | |
| Happiness measure(s) used | |
| Full text | Various self reports and informant rating A Selfreport on five questions repeated three times during semester: a In most ways my life is close to ideal b The conditions of my life are excellent c I am satisfied with my life d So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life e If I could live my life over, I would change nothing Answers rated: 7 strongly agree ...1 strongly disagree (Diener's Satisfaction With Life Scale, SWLS) B Selfreport on 24 questions: How much of each mood did you experience in the last month? BA LOVE a Affection b love c caring d fondness BB JOY a joy b happiness c contentment d pride BC FEAR a fear b worry c anxiety d nervous BD ANGER a anger b irritation c disgust d rage BE SHAME a shame b guilt c regret d embarrassment BF SADNESS a sadness b loneliness c unhappiness d depression Rated: 0 = not at all ….6 extremely much Summation: balance score (BA+BB)/2 - (BC+BD+BE+BF)/4 C Rating of B by five informants D Selfreport of daily affect on B Summation: z-scores |
| Classification | M-AO---mqr-*-0-a |
| Author's label | happiness |
| Page in publication | 81 |
| Remarks | The highest 10%, the middle 27% and the lowest 10% were selected. A check using three alternative indicators of wellbeing lead to the same groep assignment, one case excepted, which was removed. The alternative indicators were: 1) memory event recal balance, 2) trait self description and 3) suicidal thoughts Selelected in two stages. Stage 1: Four happiness measures were administrated - Satisfaction with Life scale - Global self-reported affect balance - Informant affect balance - Daily affect balance Scores were standardized and the z score for each individual were added. The highest and lowest 10% of standardized scores were selected on the basis of this distribution. Stage 2: Three groups were filtered with a discriminant function with three measures to determine whether these group members remained the same with three other measures: - Memory event recall balance - Trait self-description - Interview suicide measure 1 Ss from very happy was removed |
| Finding used in nation ranks | Yes |
| On original range 0 - 0 | On range 0 - 10 | |
| Mean | ||
| Standard deviation | 1.00 |
| Full text | Selfreport of daily mood on 24 questions 'Please indicate how much of each emotion you felt in the past month' A LOVE Aa Affection Ab love Ac caring Ab fondness B JOY Ba joy Bb happiness Bc contentment Bd pride C FEAR Ca fear Cb worry Cc anxiety Cd nervous D ANGER Da anger Db irritation Dc disgust Dd rage E SHAME Ea shame Eb guilt Ec regret Ed embarrassment F SADNESS Fa sadness Fb loneliness Fc unhappiness Fd depression Answer options: 1 not at all 2 very slight 3 somewhat 4 moderate amount 5 much 6 very much 7 extremely much Options presented horizontally Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F |
| Classification | A-BD3-cm-mqr-v-7-a |
| Author's label | Global self-reported affect balance |
| Page in publication | 82 |
| Finding used in nation ranks | Yes |
| On original range -6 - 6 | On range 0 - 10 | |
| Mean | 1.80 | |
| Standard deviation | 0.50 |
| Full text | Selfreport of daily mood on 24 questions 'Please indicate how much of each emotion you felt today' A LOVE Aa Affection Ab love Ac caring Ab fondness B JOY Ba joy Bb happiness Bc contentment Bd pride C FEAR Ca fear Cb worry Cc anxiety Cd nervous D ANGER Da anger Db irritation Dc disgust Dd rage E SHAME Ea shame Eb guilt Ec regret Ed embarrassment F SADNESS Fa sadness Fb loneliness Fc unhappiness Fd depression Answer options: 1 not at all 2 very slight 3 somewhat 4 moderate amount 5 much 6 very much 7 extremely much Options presented horizontally Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F |
| Classification | A-BD3-md-mqr-v-7-a |
| Author's label | Informant affect balance |
| Page in publication | 82 |
| Remarks | Rated each day over 51 days |
| Finding used in nation ranks | Yes |
| On original range -6 - 6 | On range 0 - 10 | |
| Mean | 1.90 | |
| Standard deviation | 0.70 |
| Full text | Rating by family and peers of daily mood on 24 questions 'Please indicate how much of each emotion Ss felt today' A LOVE Aa Affection Ab love Ac caring Ab fondness B JOY Ba joy Bb happiness Bc contentment Bd pride C FEAR Ca fear Cb worry Cc anxiety Cd nervous D ANGER Da anger Db irritation Dc disgust Dd rage E SHAME Ea shame Eb guilt Ec regret Ed embarrassment F SADNESS Fa sadness Fb loneliness Fc unhappiness Fd depression Answer options: 1 not at all 2 very slight 3 somewhat 4 moderate amount 5 much 6 very much 7 extremely much Options presented horizontally Computation: average A+B minus average C+D+E+F |
| Classification | A-BD3-g-rdv-v-7-a |
| Author's label | Daily affect balance |
| Remarks | On average five informants rated each participant. The score for each participant was calculated by subtracting the mean for negative adjectives from the mean of positive adjectives |
| Finding used in nation ranks | Yes |
| On original range -6 - 6 | On range 0 - 10 | |
| Mean | 1.60 | |
| Standard deviation | 0.40 |
| Author's label | Our subject description | |
| Affect intensity | show | Intensity of affects |
| Agreeableness | show | Agreeable |
| Conscientious | show | Conscientious |
| Depression | show | Depressive (f31-33) |
| Extraversion | show | Extraverted |
| Extremely happy or unhappy | show | O-further by A-AB |
| Family Conflict | show | Family climate (earlier for adults, current for young) |
| Hypochondriasis | show | Current psycho-somatic complaints |
| Hypochondriasis | show | Hypochondric (f45.2), also classified as above ↑ |
| Hypomania | show | Hypomanic (f30) |
| Hysteria | show | Hysteric (f99) |
| Neuroticism | show | Neurotic |
| Openness | show | Open |
| Paranoia | show | Paranoid (f20-22) |
| Psychasthenia | show | Psychasthenic (f99) |
| Psychopathic | show | Scores on symptom inventories |
| Relationship rated by peers | show | Current intimate relationships |
| Relationships with close friend | show | Number of close friends |
| Romantic relationship | show | Current intimate relationships |
| Schizophrenia | show | Schizophrenic (f20) |
| Strong family relationship | show | Family climate |
| Time spent alone | show | Time spend alone |
| Time spent with family, friends, and romantic partner | show | Current intimate relationships |
| Time spent with family, friends, and romantic partner | show | Time spend socializing, also classified as above ↑ |